Method and means for knitting pile fabric



Aug. 30, 1966 o. T. RADTKE ETAL 3,

METHOD AND MEANS FOR KNITTING PILE FABRIC 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 2, 1964 N QNH INVENTORS. 0110 Z/Fadifie & BY flair/we J. 'yiz GZJMQJ 4 7 TUBA EMS.

Aug. 30, 1966 o. T. RADTKE ETAL 3,269,147

METHOD AND MEANS FOR KNITTING FILE FABRIC 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 2, 1964 mm @m a N A UNWN 1966 o. T. RADTKE ETAL METHOD AND MEANS FOR KNITTING FILE FABRIC Filed March 2, 1964 5 SheetsSheet 3 United States Patent 3,269,147 METHOD AND MEANS FOR KNITTING PILE FABRIC Otto T. Radtke and Clarence E. Sytz, Tarboro, N.C., as-

signors to Glenoit Mills, Inc., Tarboro, N.C., a corporation of Delaware Filed Mar. 2, 1964, Ser. No. 348,604 3 Claims. (Cl. 66-9) This invention relates to a slugging attachment for a carding head for a pile fabric knitting machine and, in particular, to a carding head having means for feeding auxiliary sliver as well as base sliver to the knitting machine to produce a fabric having different pile fibers selectively patterned therein.

Carding heads for pile fabric knitting machines are well-known in the art of knitting pile fabrics, such as rugs, coat linings, etc., and such attachments operate to feed roving or sliver to needles knitting the base or backing fabric of the product. The roving or sliver fibers are taken by the needles and pulled through the knitted loops being formed, thereby locking the pile fibers into the base fabric.

It is the primary object of this invention to provide an apparatus and method for intermittent selective feeding of secondary or auxiliary roving or sliver to a pile fabric knitting machine independently of the feeding of the base sliver, so that the auxiliary sliver is selectively distributed among the base sliver fibers in the pile fabric in random slugs.

It is another object of this invention to provide a simplified mechanical attachment for a carding head so that at selected times a secondary sliver can conveniently be fed to the knitting needles to produce patterned pile fabric Without requiring removal or adjustment of the carding head apparatus.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a method of knitting a patterned pile fabric wherein, while the loop forming elements of the knitting machine are being actuated to knit a base or backing fabric, a base sliver is fed continuously thereto, via the usual carding head, and an auxiliary sliver is fed thereto at a selected intermittent feeding rate, the auxiliary sliver being combined with the base sliver as the latter passes to the doffer of the carding head.

These objects and other attendant advantages of this invention are further described hereinbelow in reference to the attached drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary view in side elevation of a typical car-ding head with one form of the attachment of this invention mounted thereon;

FIGURE 2 is a top view of the attachment and carding head shown in FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view in perspective of the auxiliary sliver feed box.

The apparatus of this invention comprises an attachment for a carding head of the type designed to feed a main or base roving or sliver to a pile fabric knitting machine. The attachment functions to feed auxiliary sliver, preferably in the form of slugs, to the carding head for final distribution to the knitting needles.

The term slug used herein shall indicate a selection of fibers of an auxiliary sliver incorporated, or to be incorporated, into the pile formed from a main sliver. Slugs are formed by selectively feeding the auxiliary sliver to the doifer to combine with the main sliver as the latter passes to the doifer from the transfer roll. Depending upon the feeding rate selected for the auxiliary sliver, a slug may extend over one or several courses in the knitted pile fabric.

The apparatus illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2 includes Patented August 30, 1966 a partial showing of -a conventional open top knitting machine, generally designated by the number 10, a carding head, generally designated by the number 20, and a preferred form of the attachment of this invention, generally designated by the number 80. The carding head 20, for the purposes of illustration, is of the type disclosed in Otto T. Radtke US. Patent No. 3,188,834, issued June 15, 1965.

In greater detail, a circular knitting machine 10 for making pile fabric, such as the Wildman-Jacquard FBW 8, is shown having a needle cylinder 12, a plurality of independent needles N and a head ring 16, which is supported by structure not shown. A ring gear 14 provides driving power to the carding head in a well-known manner as the cylinder rotates. St-ationarily mounted on the head ring 16, adjacent selected yarn feeds around the knitting head, are a plurality of carding heads 20. For convenience, the heads are designated as even and odd in relation to the number assigned to the adjacent yarn feeding station.

The carding head 20 consists of a base frame 21 mounted on the head ring 16, a pair of spaced diagonal supports 22 rotatably holding a doffer 23 and a pair of spaced supports 25 rotatably holding a card 24 and three pairs of main sliver feed rolls.

The card 24, also known in the art as the main drum or transfer roll, consists of a cylinder covered with a conventional card clothing having numerous wire teeth or bristles 32 extending in closely spaced relation from its surface. Conventional type dofi'er 23 is covered with material similar to that of card 24 and has numerous closely spaced Wire bristles or teeth 33 extending from its surface. Both the doffer 23 and card 24 are driven by means well-known in the art and rotate in opposite directions, as indicated by the arrows. Upon rotation, the bristles 33 of the dofier intermesh with the bristles 32 of the card, causing sliver fibers, typically of about one inch in length to be transferred from the card to the doffer. Bristles 33 of doffer 23 penetrate needles N so that the sliver fibers are taken in the hooks of the needles to be anchored in the knitted loops of the fabric.

The main sliver feed rolls of the carding head preferably consist of three pairs of serrated, meshing rolls (one pair identified by numerals 40 and 41) which deliver the main sliver from a source (not shown) to the card 24 at a selected constant rate past the brush 45. The rolls 40, 41, typical of the other two pairs, are rotatably supported in a pair of spaced brackets 46. Roll 41 is mounted for rotation with shaft 41a driven from shaft 54 through gears 52, 50. Roll 41 drives roll 40. The remaining two pairs of feed rolls are driven in a similar fashion.

The carding head attachment of this invention selectively feeds slugs, i.e., relatively small groups of fibers, of auxiliary sliver to the needles while the main or base sliver continues to be fed at a selected constant rate to the needles by the main carding apparatus described above. The attachment is designed to be mounted on the carding head so as to feed the auxiliary sliver for incorporation into the main sliver, before the latter is taken by the needles. Preferably, the auxiliary sliver is not dispersed tlliroughout the base sliver, but is incorporated therein as s ugs.

The preferred form of slugging attachment of this invention comprises a pair of spaced substantially L-shaped, supporting arms 81 (FIGURE 1), each mounted on a support 25. At their distal ends, arms 81, as shown in FIGURE 3 in greater detail, support cross member which, in turn, supports auxiliary sliver feed roll box 82. Box 82 has a pair of spaced parallel brackets 87, 88 mounted on member 85, said brackets supporting horizontally mounted shafts 83a, 84a upon which are mounted,

respectively, serrated, intermeshing auxiliary sliver feed rolls 83, 84. Tension springs 89, under the control of adjusting screws 90, are mounted in brackets 87, 88 to bear. against roll shaft 83a, thereby providing means to yieldingly engage the serrations of roll 83 with those of roll 84. Thus, roll 83 drives roll 84. By increasing the force exerted by springs 89 on shaft 83a, the auxiliary sliver pulled between the rolls 83, 84 is flattened and spread out laterally. The auxiliary sliver is fed from a source (not shown) through a delivery tube 91, anchored by clamp 92 on bracket 87, to the rolls 83, 84, which feed the sliver to the bristles 33 of the doffer 23. A stationary brush 86 (FIGURES 2 and 3) is mounted adjacent the inner end of feed roll box 82 to ensure that all slugs of auxiliary sliver are removed from roll 84 and directed to the doffer.

The preferred form of apparatus for controlling the rotation of auxiliary rolls 83, 84, to place slugs of auxiliary sliver selectively in the pile fabric will now be described. A spur gear 94 is fixedly mounted on the extended portion of shaft 83a of roll 83 and meshes with a gear 96 (FIGURES 2 and 3) rotatably mounted on a stud :shaft 100 supported by bracket 102, the latter being a'djustably sustained by the horizontal support arm 81. Gear 96 is attached to the inner side of a toothed timing pulley 98 rotatably mounted on shaft 100. A toothed timing pulley 99 is fixedly mounted on the extended portion of shaft 41a of the main feed roll 41, and an idler pulley 104 is mounted on adjustable bracket 106 (FIG- URE 1). A drive belt 108 is entrained about pulleys 98, 99, 104, by means of which shaft 41a drives pulley 98.

To achieve the preferred intermittent feeding of auxiliary sliver in the form of slugs by rolls 83, 84- to the doifer 23, the driving means of the auxiliary rolls is so arranged that, while the main feed rolls rotate continually, the auxiliary feed rolls rotate only at selected intervals. This is achieved by removing selected teeth or cogs from the driving gear 96 so that gear 94 and hence rolls 83, 84 are driven intermittently. Thus, gear 96 acts as a control for the feed rolls 83, 84.

In operation, the slugging attachment of this invention functions as follows. Auxiliary and main slivers are placed in position to be taken by their respective feed rolls. When the knitting machine begins to operate, gear ring 14 rotates, causing rotary movement to be transmitted to the card 24 and doifer 23. At the same time, the main feeding rolls are rotated by the drive means illustrated, drawing in the main sliver and feeding it to the card for delivery to the doffer and thence to the needles. Rotation of shaft 41a of the lower roll 41 of the first pair of main feed rolls causes pulley 99 to rotate whereby belt 108 drives pulley 98. Gear 96 turns with pulley 98 and rotates gear 94 at those times when teeth on gear 96 engage teeth on gear 94. Rotating sporadically or intermittently, gear 94 thus turns shaft 83a to rotate roll 83, sporadically or intermittently. As rolls 83, 84 are meshed, they rotate together to draw auxiliary sliver from the delivery tube and introduce the sliver to the rapidly moving bristles 33 of the doffer 23. Since rolls 83, 84 move intermittently, only small segments of auxiliary sliver are taken by the bristles of the doifer in the form of slugs S (FIG. 2). The slugs remain in more or less concentrated form on the doffer as it picks up the main sliver in the form of a spread out sheet from the card and, then, both slivers are fed to the needles N without dispersion of the slugs in the main sliver. The result is that slugs S of auxiliary sliver, typically of one color, are randomly dispersed in the pile primarily composed of the base sliver of a second color.

To produce random slugs of auxiliary sliver in a pile fabric, the knitting machine may be equipped with odd and even numbered carding heads 20, the driving apparatus of which may, for example, be arranged as follows: the pulley 99 mounted on odd numbered carding heads may be equipped with 18 teeth, while the corresponding pulley, mounted on even numbered heads,

may have 12 teeth. This causes alternate heads to feed auxiliary sliver at different rates. Gear 96, origin-ally formed with 41 teeth, for example, may be cut to have 20 teeth arranged circumferentially as follows: 5 consecutive teeth in, followed by 5 consecutive teeth out this combination existing for three successive places or quadrants on gear 96, and then 5 consecutive teeth in and 6 teeth out for one place or quadrant. Consequently, the mechanical arrangement is that timing belt 108 connects, through pulley 98, a 20-tooth gear 96 to a 12-tooth pulley 99 on even numbered heads. On odd numbered heads, the belt connects, through pulley 98, a 20-tooth gear 96 to an 18-tooth pulley 99. The combination of pulleys 99 having different number of teeth on alternate heads and the removal of selected teeth from drive gears 96 on each head causes the auxiliary sliver to be fed to the knitting machine at different rates by adjacent heads and, otherwise, in a selectively random manner.

Although a specific arrangement of the driving means is described above, it should be understood that various selections of gears having different cuts or teeth could be substituted for those described to produce intermittent rotation of the auxiliary rolls and that, for some purposes, it may be desirable to feed auxiliary sliver continually but at a varying rate.

The slivers fed by the main carding head and by the attachment of this invention may consist of any fibers or mixtures of fibers, either natural or synthetic, which are suitable for forming the desired pile of the fabric. By way of example, it is common practice to use such well-known fibers as wool, Dynel, Orlon, Acrylan, nylon, Verel, and mixtures thereof. The auxiliary sliver may differ from the main sliver by the type of fiber and, preferably, is also of a contrasting color. For example, if the main sliver used is dark in color, the auxiliary sliver may be a contrasting light color so that the final fabric would have a dark pile interspersed with light-colored slugs.

From the description set forth herein, it will be understood that by use of the carding head attachment of this invention, together with the drive means disclosed, slugs of auxiliary sliver can be selectively and randomly distributed in the pile fabric.

Although this invention has been disclosed with reference to specific forms and embodiments thereof, it will be appreciated that a great number of variations may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of this invention. For example, parts may be reversed, equivalent elements may be substituted for those specifically disclosed, and certain features of the invention may be used independently of other features, all without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. A method of knitting a patterned sliver pile fabric on a knitting machine having a plurality of loop forming elements, at least one carding head for delivering a base sliver to the loop forming elements, said carding head including a transfer roll and a doffer, and auxiliary sliver feeding means for delivering an auxiliary sliver to the carding head to combine with the base sliver, said method including the steps of (a) actuating the loop forming elements to knit a backing fabric for the sliver pile fabric,

(b) continuously delivering a base sliver via the transfer roll and doifer to the loop forming elements while they are being actuated, at a selected feeding rate,

(0) feeding an auxiliary sliver to the doifer and thence to the loop forming elements while they are being actuated, at an intermittent feeding rate and (d) combining the intermittently fed auxiliary sliver with the base sliver as slugs as the latter passes to the doffer to produce a pattern sliver for incorporatfiobnby the loop forming elements into the backing a me.

2. In a sliver pile knitting machine, a carding head ineluding a transfer roll, a doffer and at least one pair of main feed rolls, means for driving the main feed rolls at a selected speed to feed a base sliver continuously to the transfer roll and auxiliary means for selectively feeding an auxiliary sliver to the doffer to combine with the base sliver as slugs as the latter passes to the doifer to produce a patterned sliver, said auxiliary means including (a) a pair of rotatable auxiliary feed rolls,

(b) a drive gear connected to one of the auxiliary feed rolls and (c) drive means connecting the main feed rolls to the drive gear to impart intermittent rotary motion to the latter and to the auxiliary feed rolls,

(d) said drive means including a spur gear having non-uniformly spaced teeth meshing with the drive gear.

3. The invention of claim 2 wherein the drive means further includes (a) a first pulley connected to one of the main feed rolls,

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(b) a second pulley connected to the spur gear and (c) a drive belt connecting the two pulleys.

References Cited by the Examiner ROBERT R.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 7/1867 Tainter 19145.7 9/1889 Denton l9145.7

10/1914 Tauber 66--9 11/1921 Tillotson 19-145.7 X

9/1937 Camp 19145.7 12/1960 Rose 669 5/1962 Roscoe 57156 3/1964 Brandt 66-9 10/1964 Hill 66-9 FOREIGN PATENTS 12/1962 Canada.

8/1940 Germany.

MACKEY, Primary Examiner. 

1. A METHOD OF KNITTING A PATTERNED SLIVER PILE FABRIC ON A KNITTING MACHINE HAVING A PLURALITY OF LOOP FORMING ELEMENTS, AT LEAST ONE CARDING HEAD FOR DELIVERING A BASE SLIVER TO THE LOOP FORMING ELEMENTS, SAID CARDING HEAD INCLUDING A TRANSFER ROLL AND A DOFFER, AND AUXILIARY SLIVER FEEDING MEANS FOR DELIVERING AN AUXILIARY SLIVER TO THE CARDING HAED TO COMBINE WITH THE BASE SLIVER, SAID METHOD INCLUDING THE STEPS OF (A) ACTUATING THE LOOP FORMING ELEMENTS TO KNIT A BACKING FABRIC FOR THE SLIVER PILE FABRIC, (B) CONTINUOUSLY DELIVERING A BASE SLIVER VIA THE TRANSFER ROLL AND DOFFER TO THE LOOP FORMING ELEMENTS WHILE THEY ARE BEING ACTUATED, AT A SELECTED FEEDING RATE, (C) FEEDING AN AAUXILIARY SLIVER TO THE DOFFER AND THENCE 